


Conflict of Interest

by WotanAnubis



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-04-16
Packaged: 2018-03-23 06:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3757387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Max and Kate talk about their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conflict of Interest

Kate Marsh sat at her desk, drawing nothing in particular. Doodles filled up the blank paper and Kate was far too distracted to really pay much attention to what any of them actually were. It was early Spring and the whole world was in bloom.

She hadn't returned to the Blackwell dorm after her release. She hadn't returned back home to her parents either. She wanted to live with her dad again, but that would also mean having to live with her mother, which... no. So now she lived with her Aunt Margaret, the black sheep of the Marsh family. Aunt Margaret was unmarried, owned three cats and, worst of all, was Episcopalian. She was also very understanding whenever Max showed up at the door and Kate disappeared for an entire afternoon.

One of those afternoons lay behind her now. Max had taken her along to a spot in the forest so beautiful she could've cried. It had been a small clearing, full of grass and wildflowers, a few nearby trees providing shade and no trash around at all. They'd spread out this big blue-and-white picnic blanket, had sandwiches and soda, watched a few curious squirrels, enjoyed the sun and the breeze, talked at length about absolutely nothing.

Most of all, they'd just lay there, surrounded by flowers while the sun shone down on them. They hadn't talked then, just held one another. Sometimes Kate had felt so happy her, her heart felt like it might burst. Other times she was perfectly content and at peace, just holding Max in her arms and being held by her. She'd dozed off once or twice, lazy in the heat of the sun. She'd also spent minutes at a time just looking at Max's face, taking in the exact texture of her skin, counting every freckle, plumbing the depth of her eyes, imagining the feel of her lips...

Kate emerged from her dreamy recollections feeling flushed and in dire need of... of Max, her sheet of paper now full of hearts, butterflies and deer. Biting her lip, she glanced at her cell phone. There was still time before Aunt Margaret would call her for dinner, she could easily call, right? And it wouldn't seem clingy or anything, right? Even though they'd spent an entire blissful afternoon together. Right?

Max picked up after the third ring.

"Hey Kate."

Kate smiled. "Hey. I'm not bothering you are anything, am I?"

"Of course not," said Max. "I'm just happy to hear you."

"Same here," said Kate.

"So what's up?"

"Nothing really," said Kate. "Just wanted to... talk to you or something, I don't know. I just can't get today out of my head, you know?"

"I know," Max said softly. "Been thinking about it ever since I got back."

"Yeah," Kate agreed. "You really picked up a beautiful spot."

"Not as beautiful as you."

"Flatterer," Kate giggled.

"No, really, I feel like I could take you to a toxic waste dump and it's still be the greatest spot on Earth just because you're with me, y'know?"

"Knowing you, you'd still find some way to take some really pretty shots even without me."

"So people keep telling me," Max said.

"It's true. You have a gift."

"Now who's the flatterer?"

They fell silent, but that was OK. Even when Max was quiet on the other end of the line, she was still there with her, in some way.

Then, "Kate?"

"Mmm?"

"I love you."

Kate swallowed hard, blinked a few times. "I love you, too."

"And I... I wish..."

"What?" Kate asked. "Wish what?"

"No, nothing," Max sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't've brought it up."

"You haven't brought anything up yet," Kate replied. "Max, you can tell me."

There was another silence, less comfortable this time.

"I want to make you happy," Max said.

Kate nodded. It had to happen sooner or later. And, considering they'd been dating ever since she got out of the hospital, the argument could be made this counted as 'later'.

"I know."

"Do you? I mean, I just... Sometimes, when we're together, I mean... I look at you and I... I want to kiss you and hold you and run my hands through your hair and... And I feel like I should just be happy you're with me. And I am! But I... I don't know..."

"Max, I understand. Believe me, I want us to kiss too. And even... you know..."

"More than that?"

"Yeah."

Max groaned. "You know, what's really killing me is that when I... you know, when I think of... of us... I just think of you. How like... you know, I figure there's this way to make you feel good and I can't. And it's just... Makes me feel like I'm not being good enough for you because there's more I can do. And then I feel guilty for just, like, assuming that without... you know... that we're somehow incomplete."

Kate stared at nothing, completely at a loss for words. Still, she tried.

"Max, I'm so-"

"No!" Max cut her off. "No, don't apologize. Not your fault. Not my fault. Just... we both knew how you felt when we got into this and... And that's OK. True love waits, right?"

"Right," said Kate, feeling distant from herself.

True Love Waits. It had sounded so good. Love was more than base physical attraction, it said. Love was higher than that. More spiritual. And purity would also make the wedding night that much more special.

And now... now Max was in pain because she didn't feel like she loved her as much as she could. Suddenly it didn't feel as spiritually enlightened any more.

"Max, what... Is there anything I can do? To make you feel better? Or less bad or anything?"

Max sighed. "Actually, just venting's already made me feel a bit better. Maybe I should just air my frustrations more often."

"No, that won't work," said Kate. "Because that'd mean I frustrate you and I don't... that's not what I want."

"Well then, we could elope to Canada and get hitched. There's no way a couple of teenagers rushing headlong into marriage could possibly go wrong."

Kate laughed. "Come on, Max, be serious."

"Seriously, I'm OK."

"But not as OK as you could be. And if there's anything I can do to make it better, anything at all, I want to do it. Doesn't matter what."

"Love me?"

"I love you. So much."

"There. All I need," said Max.

Kate closed her eyes. "If you so, Max."

"I do. Talk to you later?"

"Of course. Love you."

"Love you."

 

* * * * *

 

The weather was nice and warm, but there were just a few too many clouds to really be called beautiful. What was beautiful, however, was the spot Max had picked for their date. This time she'd found a nice, secluded spot near a tranquil lake somewhere in the middle of the forest. Max's unerring instinct for natural beauty was almost enough to make Kate think she was part dryad somehow.

Even so, the beauty of the spot wasn't nearly enough to calm Kate's screaming nerves. Her heart was beating so loud she could barely hear the singing of the nearby birds, never mind the gentle breeze whispering through the leaves or the calm waves lapping sedately at the sandy shore.

"So Max, did you bring your camera?" Kate asked once they'd more or less settled in.

"Are you kidding?" Max said. "Of course I did. I'd be lost without it."

Kate reached up with a trembling hand and undid the top three buttons of her blouse. "So how would you feel about... taking some pictures? Of me?"

Disbelief flashed across Max's face. Then she smiled. "Sounds nice. But let's take it slow. Plenty of time, right?"

"Right," Kate agreed. "So. How do you want me?"


End file.
